Liverpool, Is This the Best Choice?

By now, everyone has probably heard that Luis Suarez moved out from Liverpool F.C. to F.C. Barcelona. Suarez has shown that he’s the world class player by scoring over 36 goals during this past season and restoring Liverpool back to the top 5 in the EPL. But nobody can deny that Suarez received a lot of support from his fellow teammates such as Daniel Sturridge, Jordan Henderson, Rahemm Sterling, and Steven Gerard. Now Suarez has left the team and the manager, Brendan Rogers, recruited Adam Lallana, Ricky Lambert, Emre Can, Divok Origi, and  Lazar Markovic in order to fill in Suarez’s void.

Now, when I heard Rogers recruiting 5 players just to fill in Suarez, I felt little bit uncomfortable. Doesn’t Liverpool already have enough players that can still carry the team to success? Liverpool has young stars like Sturridge, Henderson, and Sterling who have been a vital part of Liverpool. Sturridge was the second most scorer of the team (21) and showed that he’s confident in scoring goals. Sterling and Henderson both proved to be very important players who support the backbone of Liverpool. I understand that Liverpool needs to fill in the void that Suarez left but I don’t think signing four players wasn’t really the best decision.

First of all, I want to question if Lambert can successfully fill in Suarez’s void. Yes, Lambert showed a stellar performance throughout this past season when he played for Southampton F.C. He scored 13 goals in 37 games and was able to lift up Southampton to the Premier League. I will give him the credit of how much he contributed for Southampton. But note the fact that Southampton has been recently promoted to the Premier League from the Championship League. While Suarez played excellent in the Premier League, Lambert played well in the Championship League. Suarez proved to be a monster by scoring 82 goals in 132 matches for past four seasons. Can Lambert fill that void that Suarez left? That answer is going to be too tough to call but I would say no.

Also, can Lambert cooperate well with Sturridge? During this past season, Suarez and Sturridge proved to be very deadly as they led Liverpool’s offense. Both players scored at least half of Liverpool’s total goals. It seems like as Rodgers plans to use Lambert to create goal chances so Sturridge can score but I am still skeptical of Lambert’s talent.

I understand that Liverpool scouted Lallana, Lambert, Markovic, Origi, and Can to strengthen the depth of the team. Lallana will be a great tool as he will be able to play off from the bench as he has the speed for an attacker. He knows how to make creative plays for Liverpool and I am confident that Lallana will do so. Markovic has the ability to create one to one situation and can break those critical and intensive moments in the game. Origi can penetrate the defense as he proved to be a skillful attacker.  But Liverpool must know that players’ qualities are not great as Suarez as all 5 players are from low ranked teams in EPL.

Ok, I may be fine with scouting these five players in, but a real problem came when I heard that Liverpool wants Marco Reus and Xherdan Shaqiri. How much do they want? Why not take an advantage of Henderson, Sturridge, and Sterling who all proved to be great players for this past season. This potential recruit can definitely hurt the starting XI. I see that Rodgers is very ambitious for this upcoming season. He wants to win the Champions League, the FA Cup, the Carling Cup, and the Premier League title. But is recruiting more than four players rather than having just one super star to replace Suarez the best option?

I am voicing this out because not only am I worried about Liverpool’s future but also I am worried about England’s future. Many have pointed out that England failed to become very successful in the World Cup because they don’t have young super stars who can carry out the team. Uh, hello? Don’t you see Sturridge and Sterling? Don’t you see Danny Welbeck, Ross Barkley, etc? England has an abundance of young players who can play for England anytime but it’s just that no Premier League teams are willing to use them as starting XI consistently. The Premier League just cares about results rather than quality. They need to use their English players if they want England to be a strong team. If England really wants to do better for this next World Cup, perhaps taking an advantage of these young English players may not be that bad after all.

In my opinion, Rogers is playing very dangerously here. Yes, depth is needed if Liverpool wants to go far in the Champions League. But too much depths will cause problems. Too many signings lead to errors in cohesion within the team. Plus, filling in the void that one super star left is just too burdensome. Liverpool may become one of the deadliest teams for two seasons but their flaws will show up quickly after. So, Mr. Rogers, if you think your decision is great for the team, please think again.